remember, a few weeks ago, my boss said he will give me a pay rise? and then a possible other pay rise (into a salary)?

well, the 2nd pay rise didn’t happen. he kept saying he will do this and that in 2 weeks, but none of that happened and things cropped up too (his grandmother passed away, and then i was sick). however, when i got sick, i wanted to clear my holiday pay to ease up my finances abit.

let me explain this a little: when i first got into the company, there was no such thing as casual rates. perhaps, it was so that they can’t pay us penalty rates over weekends since they might be a little cheap arse, although i have no clue if it was compulsory that penalty rates are compulsory for casual rates. we were all part timers.

when our new boss took over, he tried to introduce higher, but casual rates - no mention of a penalty either. this also meant our holiday pay was cleared. it seemed, though, everyone voted out of it since at that point in time, there were many girls who worked more than enough hours to justify keeping the holiday pay. i am not quite sure how it’s calculated either, but let’s just say for my 20 hours a week, i get 1.1 hour of holiday pay.

this pay can be withdrawn in cash if we don’t use it - which is mostly what happens.

but… ever since he mentioned the pay rise, i’ve hardly checked my pay slips. i am that dumb and trusting because you know, my boss seems like a great guy.

but because i have been sick, and might be financially tight, i thought of clearing my holiday pay to ease it up. except, when i open my payslip, it reads: “rates: casual” and my holiday pay line was gone. GONE!?!? when waifie asked him where’s my holiday pay… he said i don’t get it as a casual.

furthermore, i am sure i had some holiday pay leftover from the few weeks before i got a pay rise - it seemed they were all erased.

there was no questions asked, no contract - nothing. is that even allowed!??!

i am kind of disappointed, the 2 lazy chinese bitches get paid slightly less than me (30 cents?) and still get paid holiday pay, and are going to withdraw all that for a christmas present to themselves. where else i, who slogged it out, am going to have to slog more for my own christmas present?

so i have been sick for about 2 weeks now. longest time i have ever been sick. it ruined my entire holidays as well as well laid study/essay writing plans. it’s not a huge worry, thank god, but still an nuisance nonetheless.

because i have been sick, and because i have really thought through and read through many things while i have been sick, i realise i have to really abide by my resolutions to lead a healthy life. while i am not quite that young anymore, i am far from being old. and that, i hope, is my advantage of any health issues that might crop up.

how does being healthy benefit me?

1) supposedly encourage endorphins to run through me. which means, i get to be happier? :p

2) healthier heart - dad being a heart patient now and all…

3) something that’s debatable, but hopefully… i would be more fertile? i want to have kids. seems like by all blood tests, i just might be infertile.

4) ooo sexy legs?!?!!?

so i decided to start slow the other night, while still pretty sick. the other night being… sunday. being still sick, and being an adult asthmatic, i thought it would be a good idea to somewhat… brisk walk. i thought i walk pretty good, considering how much i hate running and anything to do with that form of exercise, walking felt like a good choice.

so i took out my ipod, took out my nike+ extension to the ipod, and just went for a nice “short” walk.

i have to laugh, lol, after i finished walking. i was puffing, obviously out of it, but i was feeling so HAPPY!! and, you know, encouraged by the walk. “damn girl,” i told myself “you did well!” *pat pat*

then i checked the time.

i walked about 3km in total (the timing wasn’t perfect as i had a hiccup of a start), with a few pauses in between to zip up my jacket and re-tie my shoelace. i was doing… TEN MINUTES 40 SECONDS PER KILOMETER!!!!(don’t know if you need to sign in to see the link) hahahahaha!! so much for a brisk walk. but thinking back, i have always failed in the walking/running department. those stupid NAFA tests or something that we did in school always had me clocking in anywhere between 15-25 minutes for a 2.4km run - because i run + walk, rather than really ran.

the one time that i seriously hyped myself up for it, i completed it in 9 min 40 seconds.

but i also remember, that despite all that which seems to show i was unfit, i used to be able to rollerblade 5-6 hours flat, sometimes 12, up and down East Coast Park. i don’t know how long that is, but i remember it was a tedious pavement due to the huge arse speed bumps meant for bicycles. so i couldn’t have been too far from being fit either.

so here’s how i am going to work this thing out.

1) i am going to eat well. 3 meals a day, in the right 3-2-1 portions (rice, vegies, meat). or 6 tiny meals a day.

2) i am going to walk some more, and when i am ready, i will start doing short burst runs in between the walkings. if i can’t fit it into my schedule too well, well… i can walk to school. it’s like, a 45 minutes walk or something lol.

3) when summer comes along, i am going swimming. W00T! i really can’t wait. i need to learn to swim to be able to surf, so swim first, and then surf. i probably would die to drowning, but fuck, i can die saying that i have learnt how to surf! yay! :p

mmm… and before i end this, i want to tell you something real funny yet cool. i have always treasured my time to myself when i take walks. this would mostly be because i have brought my music players out. when i was 10, as a present to my intelligence, mum bought me my first walkman, and i was hooked. it has always felt as if a band playing just specially for you in your head.

these walks would be great moments of imaginations, where i had allow myself to zone out and day dream about things i had probably never be able to experience. sometimes, i had to stop myself from openly singing and dancing to the songs, because i am crazy like that. but it is really incredibly enjoyable.

and now, it’s great that my little obsession with carrying my music with me has also allowed me to know how fit or shit i am. although, to be honest, i don’t really care about the timing at this point. if i am good, i had be like, “wow.” and if i am shit, i will probably laugh at it as much as i did today.

Thank God for innovations and music.

I need to meet up with my lecturer about my essays. therefore, i am staying in school until the class finish so i can grab him off the podium.

Meanwhile:

Crocs are bad for escalators. Or so it seems. First off, i wouldn’t be caught dead wearing them for many reasons. they are rubber, which means they might get hot over time and cause some minor discomfort or some form of infections on my terribly sensitive feet. even if they don’t, those holes would invite water into them, a big no-no if i am home in singapore.

secondly, to me, those shoes are a definite fashion faux pas. if i am to wear socks in them, i will wear my normal running shoes. if i am to wear with naked feet, then i rather air out my feet in slippers and thongs. wwwhhhyyy would i want to wear them in a pair of rubber shoes that seem to cling to smooth surfaces? or pretend to look like shoes if you wear them under long pants?

but see, that’s just me. in the mean time, let’s look at why else you shouldn’t wear them.

because… especially if you think it looks cute on kids, they are just not feasible. infact, they can cause a lost toe. and since the big toe helps you to balance on your feet… why cause yourself to be a handicap just because it looks, omg, cool? cute? pretty? however, crocs have refuted the claim, insisting that there should be greater escalator safety checks in place.
personally though, since i have definitely taken too many escalators in my life, i really doubt that most of the escalators that were involved in any of these accidents (and including those that you can find just off googling) were caused by faulty escalators or lack of knowledge on how to use escalators. i have worn enough shoes in my life, sans at home, and haven’t gotten involved in an accident with any of them just yet, on the escalator. the one time i slipped on the escalator was because i was stupid and tried to run back up a downward escalator - but all kids do that.